District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan announced on Thursday that she is running for Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s seat as the San Francisco member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“San Francisco has always belonged to the people — not the powerful. And people in our city are struggling. Families are hurt by high costs, communities are devastated by Trump policies,” Chan wrote in a press release announcing her run. “I’m running for Congress to build coalitions, build up our communities and bring our voices to Washington.”
Chan has served as the supervisor for District 1, which covers Richmond, Sea Cliff and Presidio Terrace, since January 2021. She is up against Scott Wiener, the state senator for San Francisco, and Saikat Chakrabarti, a former tech executive and former chief of staff to New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She is the only major Chinese candidate.
In her campaign launch video, Chan sought to distinguish herself from her opponents with thinly veiled swipes at both Wiener and Chakrabarti: “I’m not a corporate Democrat. I didn’t make money in tech. I’m a working mom. I made lunch for my kid.”
Wiener has raised more than $1 million for his campaign so far, according to campaign finance filings, and much of his giving comes from employees in the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors, according to Calmatters’ Digital Democracy project.
Chakrabarti became a centimillionaire as a founding engineer at Stripe. He has pledged to self-fund his campaign.
In her video, Chan also took a stab at Wiener’s stance on housing, vouching to “build real affordable housing, not the Sacramento version that destroys our neighborhoods.”
As state senator, Wiener, the godfather of the YIMBYs, has passed a number of policies to spur development, loosen zoning restrictions and put teeth into housing construction mandates.
Chan has taken a different approach: She has expressed concern about how those same laws could change San Francisco neighborhoods and potentially displace tenants and small businesses.
Most recently, she attempted to pass amendments to exempt existing housing stock from the mayor’s upzoning plan. (Those amendments were not integrated into the plan, as they would have effectively gutted it and made it noncompliant with state requirements.)
Chan is a progressive politician who has strong ties with the city’s major labor unions. In her November 2024 reelection campaign, a labor-backed political action committee spent handsomely to support her, raising more than $800,000.
That, and her opposition to Prop. K, which removed cars from the Great Highway, were difference-makers in her supervisorial race. Wiener favored Prop. K.
In her campaign launch video published on Thursday, Chan touted her record as supervisor. She highlighted a progressive-friendly list of accomplishments: Tenant protections, free Muni for youth, and raising wages for city workers.
Pelosi, the retiring incumbent, endorsed Chan’s campaign for supervisor in 2024. The two also worked together to pass Prop. 50 in 2025. The speaker emerita has not yet publicly offered an endorsement for her successor nor committed any campaign funds.
Chan was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States at the age of 13. Before becoming supervisor, she worked as a legislative aide to several elected officials, including District 10 supervisor Sophie Maxwell, District Attorney Kamala Harris and District 3 supervisor Aaron Peskin.
“…her opposition to Prop. K, which removed cars from the Great Highway, were difference-makers in her supervisorial race.”
Please explain. Her opponent was also against Prop K, according to your own paper.
Some of us D1 residents miss the old days in SF when “progressive” reliably meant support for low-cost, climate-safe transportation including bikes and walking.
Maybe we’ll get someone in the mold of Mar and McGoldrick in the next round…
I agree with everything — except for the misplaced “Mar and McGoldrick” nostalgia. Those 2 were at least as bad as Fewer and Chan. All of them are NIMBY reactionaries posing as “progressive”. Couldn’t be further from the truth.
The YIMBY propaganda continues. You don’t live in the district.
Philhour was initially against K then changed horses mid-stream. She was seen as a wishy-washy (real estate) type who could “pull an Engardio” if elected.
Chan instead doubled down on the compromise that was in place before Engardio lied. There is no walking or biking on the Great Highway that didn’t exist prior to K. The path was always open for all uses and cyclists used the roadway routinely without a single accident on record. The non-profit corruption that funded it now controls the space and resident constituents have virtually no say on how it is being transformed into a kitsch art gallery for well-connected children of corruption and mismanagement, using “private funds” as cover for a land grab.
When did Philhour change positions? Mission Local reported her opposition on October 17, 2024. https://missionlocal.org/2024/10/at-mission-local-d1-debate-little-daylight-between-incumbent-chan-and-challenger-philhour/
As someone who bikes and drives, I will say my experience biking to places in or beyond the Sunset has vastly improved with the passage of Prop K, while the experience driving through has changed almost unnoticeably.
I really recommend that those who miss driving that road still make a point to spend time on it in its new form.
That explains all of the political posturing
Scott Wiener would never!
You state as fact that Sup. Chan’s plan to prevent the demolition of rent controlled buildings with >2 units would have gutted the city’s plan and, by implication, made it unacceptable to the state. If the supes were so sure of that, why did they turn down Sup. Chan’s request to have someone from the state testify?
So far, we’ve got Weiner, who’s basically 100% “if you’re not a yimby drone you’re a horrible human”. We got Chakrabarti, who’s a billionaire looking to buy some power. And now Chan, who’s worked hard and does a lot of good and has actually experienced real problems that real people deal with.
For you “OH MY GOD SHE IS A COMMUNIST!!!” people…. seriously, get a grip.
You’re electing a person with an agenda and a level of skill. I think Wernier is a douche, but some love him. I’m sick of billionaires and won’t vote for that one. And I’m glad there’s another option. I’ll put her on my RCV list.
There’s no RCV list because it’s not a local office. BUT it’s a top two primary so the top two vote getters will face off in November.
the founding stripe engineer is only a centimillionaire who donated against the campaign interests of his dsa ally, dean preston.
And worked for Bernie and AOC.
Dean Preston was a fall guy for better or worse.
She and Wiener have/were useless as supervisors.
55% of the voters in all of sf supported prop k last movember. i can’t wait for chan to lose.
Based on lies however, and in contravention of local and State laws.
Whoops? Maybe we should vote to turn the Castro into a zoo next?
NOT
Connie Chan is by far the best candidate to announce for this House seat so far.
Cheers and good luck to Connie Chan, a supe with a quality track record representing her district. Connie upholds true Democratic party values, while defending what’s best in San Francisco.
Connie Chan is my district supervisor and she’s absolutely the worst.
She’s a dissembling, opportunistic, reactionary NIMBY and after she terms out, we need to make certain that her political career — just like Peskin’s — is over.
YIMBY tools are absolutely the worst for SF.
Scott Wiener sellouts are the actual reactionaries.
I bet you depend on government handouts and expect everyone to subsidize you. Start contributing before asking for another subsidy!
If Joel Engardio gets a real job we’ll all lose this bet.
And now the People have a real candidate running for Pelosi’s seat. As Chair of the Budget Committee, Connie Chan has a grounded, expansive understanding of how government works. She is a compassionate pragmatist……desperately needed.
Chakribarti has some interesting fresh ideas and no baggage.
Far and away best candidate in race,
If Fielder in her first stand before voters could get 40% of vote against Wiener ?
And, Jackie has been the same type of supe as she was a candidate to this voter.
Over the course of the campaign I endorsed her and attacked her major opponent.
During that campaign I tried to get her to join a Candidates Collaborative.
No response to that or a number of other contacts I made then.
Since she’s been in office I’ve contacted her office regarding a dozen or so issues and have never received a reply never nada not once.
And, who added the comment in parenthesis about her amendments gutting Wiener’s law ?
Well, me and about 400,000 renters hate Wiener’s law.
Seriously, what’s wrong with blunting Scott’s spear and dealing with him in court over and over again as we’ve done with Gay Marriage ?
Chan for Congress and don’t look back !!!
go Niners !!
h.
Residents of the Mission are unpersons to Fielder’s crowd. Bernal neighbors, on the other hand, get community forum after community forum for a random killing by car, as do cats.
Chan is Peskin 3.0.
Just as we were able to kick Peskin to the curb, we need to do likewise with (Lame Duck) Chan.
It’s as simple as A.B.C. —– Anybody, But Chan!
Go Senator Scott Wiener — our next Representative in the U.S. House!
The Sellout of the City. Ugh.
London Breed?
Was Ed Lee.
Wow, nothing like reporting yimby talking points as fact and not reporting facts that contradict them. No, the Supervisors amendments would not have “effectively gutted” the proposal, a proposal the City Economist has determined will produce less than half the units the Mayors says he wants at roughly the same costs as today’s unaffordable prices . For example, Supervisor Chen’s proposal to require the actual building of the housing within 30 months of approval was deemed a “constraint on new housing”, a mind numbing conclusion only able to be appreciated by yimby’s. Chen’s proposals would have resulted in bigger units more affordably priced than the Mayor’s. It would have “effectively gutted” only the demolition of thousands of rent controlled units and the displacement of current residents and neighborhood serving retail businesses.
Yawn.
Since 2012, the city has lost an average of 18 units to demolitions per year, per the SF Standard. And the amendment to protect rent control units in buildings with over 2 units is already going to happen. So yes, please tell us more about the thousands of rent controlled units that are going to disappear.
DOL, be a bit alert about SF Standard. That entire platform came into existence because a billionaire bought some commercial warehouses and wanted to push the convert-to-residential applications for them – which later turned to full-floor-luxury-condos. The entire thing is 99.999% financially supported by Michael Moritz. So, don’t go quoting blatant propaganda as some kind of evidence
Ummm… what you call blatant propaganda is actual data from the Planning Commission itself, so yeah, I think it is pretty solid evidence, regardless of who reports it.
There have been no demolitions of rent controlled units for luxe condos in the upzoned Mission over the past 17 years.
Had there been, the housing nonprofits would have been running around like chickens with their heads cut off ranting about it, assuming they did not get paid off to ignore it.
D3, like so many, is afraid to take down the idea so they have to attack the person saying it. Shows you’re not very smart when you take that tactic. You would probably argue that 2+2 cannot =4 if hitler said it.
Uh “follow the money” is not an attack, it’s a directive toward finding out the truth of “Qui bono” – who benefits.
When a Billionaire developer and real estate speculator buys a newspaper, there’s a reason and it’s not philanthropy, Einstein.
Why don’t you post how many units they gained as a result of those demolitions? Every time units get demolished it means double the units are built! The fact socialists think they have right to take private property and dictate what can be done with it. Imagine buying a car and still demanding that people who sold it to you have rights to it.Grow up and start contributing to the society!
Gaining tiny units for top of market rents from fewer, cheaper units occupied by existing long-term San Francisco residents, obviously with jobs, is about as clear you can be in calling for gentrification.
You worship the rich and only the richest of. Face it.
You have no idea what you are taking about. The progressive in this city (lead by people like Chan paid for by money funneled from low income renters by TODCO) has undercut building for years. The city can as lurie is trying to do preserve zoning by passing a compliant plan, otherwise the entire city will be “builders remedy”
You might see the NYT piece today on what that looks like.
LOL, Calvin Welch is one of the jerks we have to thank for the disastrous City-wide downzoning in the 70’s. which has led directly to the massive housing shortage and runaway housing costs of the present.
No thanks — your time is over!
Actually developer greed has directly led to the housing shortage, and you’re thinking you can feed it away? Silly people.
YIMBY like to invent facts to suit their gentrification agenda.
Why did the housing advocates demand a better deal for west and north side tenants than they did for tenants in the Mission when you all signed onto Eastern Neighborhoods, functionally equivalent TOD to Lurie’s plan, in 2007?
You all had decades of bites at the apple and you lost, lost again and kept losing to the various iterations of developer hacks, lastly the YIMBY. You did succeed, however, at neutralizing the progressive political threat to the growth machine.
Once you winnowed down the progressive coalition to a handful of politically connected city funded nonprofits and public sector labor, you never had a chance. We never had a chance so long as your identity was defined by housing and all other areas of public policy that don’t contract with your nonprofits went dark for progressives.
Here you are going to bat for machine corruption at the Ethics Commission. If the choice is between Peter Keane and Quentin Kopp on one side, and Calvin Welch and Peter Cohen on the other, there is really no contest. Reassemble this URL:
fb
.watch/Dvrb3OfKQO/
As a volunteer I co-founded a CCHO member. I’ve walked the walk so that I can talk the talk. You all have cashed checks and marked time for 25 years while intercepting and neutralizing demands for change from below and to the left. As a result, CCHO ED salaries have skyrocketed to the mid six figures. For charity work.
Progressives aka. Socialists like Connie Chen should never be allowed to hold any important gov roles. They are the reason cost of living is skyrocketing.
Anti-development activism and rent control restrict supply and cause rents to skyrocket and buildings to deteriorate.
Slapping high business taxes, payroll taxes, or gross-receipts taxes result in business leaving area, reduced competition and high taxes costs passed through to consumers. Everything they do ends up costing us more. There is a reason why EVERYTHING in CA cost triple comparing to red states. How can people be so stupid and not understand that socialism doesn’t work! There is no such thing as FREE.
I am so tired of hearing well off people whining about “socialism” as if that was at all any part of this discussion.
I suggest those who hate progressives look at moving to Houston and leave us alone.
Houston seems Connie Chan’s speed. Tons of cars and single family homes there!
You can move, she’s from here and so are the houses and cars.
I hear Paris is magical, yuppies.
I think you should pack your bags and move to the place you can actually afford to live! You are the ones that need subsidies and refuse to work and contribute to the society.
That’s not how a lease works – it’s a contract. Breaking the contract because you’re feeling greedy lately isn’t actually legal, YIMBY tools.
Lisa B, pease do us all a favor and go Galt.
Start contributing to the society before asking for another subsidy!
It’s Chan, with an A. Try and get it right next time, I believe in you!
There’s also a Chen on the board. Typos and brainfarts can happen – see Lurie’s upzoning plan and D4 replacement process.
Sorry not good enough. If you can’t distinguish Chan from Chen then please shut up.
“Progressives aka. Socialists”
No progressives are socialists, go back to Texas where Republican lies dominate.
Socialism is progressive. going to argue that one.